Causes Of Low Testosterone

Here's Why Your Testosterone Is Low (And What You Can Do About It)

Testosterone levels have been dropping since the 1970s — a trend that is not showing any signs of slowing down.

Forget everything you’ve heard about testosterone

Unfortunately, the word testosterone is starting to have a negative connotation. When someone mentions testosterone we are now conditioned to think of juiced-to-the-gills bodybuilders, horny teenagers or angry guys who pick a fight with everyone they run into.

That’s all wrong.

Testosterone is the most important hormone men produce. It’s what makes us men. And since testosterone levels are on the decline, it means we are getting less manly with each passing decade.

As men, we are more than our hormones. Once we make it through our teens, we define ourselves by our accomplishments, our jobs, our friends, and the women we bring into our lives. The kicker is that testosterone impacts our desire to improve and achieve in all those areas.

Why this matters

Testosterone is a vital hormone when it comes to men’s health and wellness. It’s not only important for having sex and building muscle. It’s the hormone driving our desire to strive, procreate and take out our aggression.

Testosterone has an inverse relationship with estrogen. When one goes up, the other goes down in response. As our testosterone levels dip, our estrogen levels go up.

For men, this can lead to:

Excess fat gain

Heart disease

Erectile dysfunction

Decreased libido

Depression

Lethargy

Lack of body hair

Shrunken testicles

Decreased immune system

Having optimal testosterone levels is vital to your health, wellness and performance. If your testosterone levels are not where they should be, you are at a serious disadvantage in the gym, with women and in your career.

Testosterone is a surprisingly controversial topic and there is new research being done constantly to figure out what causes testosterone levels to decline — and how we can get them back to normal.

Here are three causes of declining testosterone levels and how to counteract their effect.

1. You’re eating too much junk

In our modern world, delicious foods are readily available at every turn. We never find ourselves on the brink of starvation like our ancestors once did. Which makes it easy to chronically overeat — and primarily eat too much junk food.

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This is bad for a couple of reasons: Junk foods typically contain terrible ingredients, and science seems to think these ingredients are impacting our hormone production. We just don’t know how drastic that impact is yet. Low-quality, processed foods are also an easily digestible source of calories. Those calories aren’t filling, and we end up consuming more calories than we need.

Eating too many calories leads to fat gain, which can majorly impact your ability to produce testosterone. In fact, excess fat storage means that your body will typically begin to ramp up cortisol and estrogen production — and decrease testosterone production in response.

The fix:

Stop eating refined carbohydrates for a while.

Cut back on your alcohol intake (alcohol inhibits hormone production, and we also tend to eat lower quality food after drinking).

Eat plenty of fibrous vegetables.

Eat red meat (the saturated fat will aid testosterone production).

2. You're not lifting weights

This is one of the most basic tenets of producing more testosterone. You need to be lifting heavy things. Lifting weights directly causes your body to respond by increasing its testosterone output. This has been known for years — and it’s part of the reason we associate testosterone with gym bros.

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When you’re lifting weights, you’re forcing your muscles to adapt and recover by growing bigger and stronger. You have to eat protein and quality carbohydrates to fuel recovery but, on a hormonal level, testosterone plays a huge role in your body's recovery and muscle-building processes. On a more primal level, lifting weights offers a healthy outlet to take your aggression out. Anger is an emotion partially fueled by testosterone, and when you tap into it relatively often (in a controlled setting like the gym) two things will happen:

You’ll feel angry less often because you will now have an outlet for your feelings of aggression.

Your body is going to respond by ramping up its testosterone production — anger is a stimulus in itself.

The fix:

Get into a gym immediately and start lifting. You don’t have to join a hardcore powerlifting gym or anything like that. Hell, Planet Fitness will get the job done. The important thing is that you start exercising your right to exercise. If you are new to working out, most places offer initial consultations with personal trainers who can show you around. If you’re looking for a program to follow, consider hiring a personal trainer or finding resources online.

3. You’re relying on testosterone replacement therapy

Testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT, has become the de facto choice for most guys who suffer from low T levels. In theory, it’s a perfect solution: Rub a little cream, take a pill or get a shot and your testosterone levels are back to normal.

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Life is rarely that simple. Many of the men who go through TRT experience minimal testosterone production to begin with. When they get on TRT, they rarely change their lifestyle. And because their body is receiving testosterone from an outside source, natural testosterone production decreases even more.

In the beginning stages of TRT, many men report feeling more “manly,” aggressive and sexually aroused and have a bigger desire to work out. Some even follow through on these desires. But those who don’t further perpetuate the problem — until they need to up the dosage of T.

The fix:

Talk to your doctor and figure out a way to steadily decrease the amount of testosterone you are receiving while actively working to increase your testosterone levels naturally. Some doctors will take you off TRT right from the start if your testosterone levels are not too far from normal.

Once you have talked to your doctor, the suggestions listed above are the best ways to start increasing your testosterone production.

Testosterone isn’t a hormone that should be demonized. It’s an integral part of what makes us men, and without enough of it we suffer. Start taking action and get your testosterone levels in check. You will be a better person because of it — and those around you will notice it too.